Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Universalism

My friend Doc is a universalist. He believes that all humanity is one. Many people do. Yet I as a culturist am not dedicated to the proposition of "humanity." I believe that people divide into cultures. What did I tell Doc?

In culturism I go back to nature . In nature animals live in groups. This is a necessary survival trait in animals that do not recognize eachother, such as fish. Animals, including fish, are quite territorial. This is not rational. When Chimpanzee groups split your old friends become your enemies. Plumage, smells, and sounds are used to differentiate the in group from the out group. This is universal and functional.

Mankind has lived in tribes for 97% of his time on earth. Tribes are defined by their group nature. Tribes shared the same characteristics as the animals described above. This is not a coincidence. Neither, I told Doc, is it a coincidence that all people on all continents in all stages of humanity's development have been found in cultural clusters.

This is still the case today. As much as we would love China's government to advocate for all of humanity, it does not. As much as we would love Islamic nations to work towards a united secular order, they do not. Nations and cultures exist; and in a world with scarcity (the one we live in) they are in competition. We all love a good "win-win" situation; but such a situation still has sides to win.

Lastly, Doc said, "Yes. This might all be true, but the world is getting diverse and globalized." This, however, is not the case. The West is getting globalized. We are opening our borders and refusing to take sides. Asian countries are still racially defined. I cannot become Japanese. Islamic nations are not allowing diversity in their nations.

All groups, in all times, have recognized they are on teams. From tribal times on people have rooted for their own side. The other teams in this league are united and loyal. We do not even recognize that we have a team. Cultures exist. Diversity exists. If our side becomes weak, the others gain. When others gain ascendancy, it will not be a win-win for us. But it will not be a bad day for "humanity" since there is no such grouping.

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